State debate proposed for RSPCA on animal kill rates

LAWYER for Companion Animals Anne Greenaway has put forward a challenge to debate the NSW RSPCA CEO Steve Coleman on television about the statistics within the RSPCA report for 2011.

The lawyer wants to challenge the medical and behavioural reasons for the excessive animal killings occurring daily within the state.

Ms Greenaway is calling for the RSPCA to make the temperament test or behavioural assessment, available to the public.

“I fail to understand how open admission council pounds working with community rescue groups have kill rates under 20 per cent,” she said.

“Yet the RSPCA kill rate is over 50 per cent for cats and dogs combined.”

Ms Greenaway believes the RSPCA may be “engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct with some of the claims they make”.

“I am aware of people who have complained to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission alleging the RSPCA has engaged in misleading conduct,” she said.

Ms Greenaway recently provided information to SBS program Insight, for an episode aired last week which highlighted kill rates occurring in council pounds and shelters around Australia.

The lawyer hoped the show would make the public more aware of the large numbers of companion animals being killed each year.

“I think the RSPCA also needs to be more transparent with the rescue groups they work with and I would like to know how many animals they released to rescue groups last year.”

The RSPCA have agreed the amount of companion animals being killed each year in Australia is “appalling.”

An RSPCA spokesperson said while figures may appear high, “at a closer glance of 4862 dogs euthanised by the RSPCA in the last financial year, 62 per cent were put down due to behavioural problems and and 35 per cent because of disease and medical conditions”.

RSPCA NSW CEO Steve Coleman said, “Because of our open door policy, we take in animals that are sick, injured, abused, neglected and unwanted.”

“A number of these animals are deemed dangerous or downright cruel to be kept alive,” he said.

“As a result our staff make the difficult decision to euthanise animals on a daily basis.”

Showing 72 comments

Jmdalziel

Gee, what makes CEO Steve Coleman of the RSPCA have to defend himself by saying they take in sick, injured,abused, neglected and unwanted animals? They have their OWN staff, their OWN veterinary clinics (not run at a loss) and the public’s money. All of us private rescuers and rescue groups do the same thing on our OWN scratchy funds. Hopefully their days are numbered in the way they operate.

Yes rescue groups take is sick, old, young timid and afraid cats and dogs.

They do not “cherry pick” the best animals from the pounds. It has been often inferred that the rescue groups take only the “good” animals. Do people who make these claims bother to go and look at the discarded animals that end up in the council pounds that rescue groups rescue from? The ones that end up in the pounds are not perfectly groomed, perfectly behaved cats and dogs of perfect health. But the rescue groups give these neglected animals a second chance.

I still want to know why COUNCIL POUNDS working with rescue groups have a higher save rate than the RSPCA NSW.

And I want to see the temperament test that several people have asked for yet RSPCA NSW has not made publicly available. It is in the public interest that this test be made publicly available to all those, particularly those who donate money to the RSPCA.

The RSPCA operate AS A POUND in alot of cases (well, in the RSPCAs that are local to me). So instead of Council taking the animal and putting it in the Pound, when a Council ranger picks up an animal they take it to the RSPCA and pay for the privilege of the RSPCA looking after it and putting it down. That’s where there is alot of friction, RSPCA are operating as a business for profit some believe not for the animals.

So depending on the location Council and location of the RSPCA it could range from a couple a week to a 100.

Like to point out that only the Large centres in the city have their OWN vet clinics,most of the shelters rely on local vet clinics for their vet needs. Also that shelters that are also running pounds for councils often have to defer to the council in regards to how much vet care can be given to a stray animal (while the animal is in the pound it is considered a stray and council property) Quite often the councils will only allow basic vet care to be administered. If the price of the care is too much the council will authorise the putting down of the animal. The blame does not soley lay with the RSPCA who’s money goes to the care and feeding of the animals the PUBLIC has cast out. All I’m saying is don’t lay blame until both sides of the story have been seen. Do you know what the staff have to face every day?

I don’t blame the staff – I blame the CEO. Why else would someone with not so great a CV earn $140k per year, if not to improve the bang for buck that his very generous patrons get in terms of providing better quality animal welfare than his predecessors for the same or less amount of money. I don’t know any other CEO who isn’t expected to improve his/her company during their tennure. If Steve Coleman doesn’t think he can improve conditions for animals then he should resign and let someone else, who might be better qualified, handle it.

Actually, the vet clinic at Yagoona is privately owned and the RSPCA pay them much higher rates than my small rescue group get from our vet. This is one of the main things I would attack them about – wasting donated funds negligently.

I have tranferred my donations to the ‘No Kill Shelters’ – the RSPCA are reponsible for the mass killings of healthy dogs and cats – I want my donations to save lives…not destroy them. The RPCA lost my family’s support when I found out about their high kill rate.

A review of the RSPCA is well overdue. Their unacceptably high kill rates need much explanation. Their unacceptably high profit margins also need close examination and investigation. Their operations just are not good enough, not transparent enough and most importantly dont have our animals best interest at the core of their operations. It has become all about the money – not the animals. Profits in the thousands and even millions are just not acceptable and the public who donate in the millions need some answers.

Allyway I can tell you the RSPCA runs at a loss. There is no profit. It costs more to prepare an animal for adoption than the adoption fee it self. This is then without the cost of wages, running costs etc. Euthanasia is terrible for anyone to deal with, the community seems to forget the animals come from the community. They should be the ones to be held accountable not the RSPCA

Get off your soapbox woman. Build your own shelter with a no kill policy and see how long it takes for it to fill up with animals that are unwanted, or unsuitable for re-homing. Shelters do everything they can to save the lives of the animals in their care. They do not willingly choose to put animals to sleep.

Aj, why don’t you go up to Animal Rights and Rescue group in the Nth Rivers region.
Operating for many years as no kill ( saved over 15000 ) while all the time saving animals from deathrow pounds there AND offering assistance for desexing as well as handling all the cruelty cases in the area, ALL UNPAID.
It can be done and with the $70 x in their coffers its about time they put their money where their mouths are-

There are several no-kill shelters here in Perth WA which are not ‘filled up’ with animals. They get rehomed after receiving the medical care and/or training they need. In the RSPCA NSW’s case, they are choosing to put animals to sleep when there are alternatives such as rescue or rehabilitation. We want to know why.

What would be the point of opening another no-kill shelter if animals brought to the RSPCA are still being killed?

You are showing your ignorance Aj, if you think “shelters do everything they can to save the lives of the animals in their care”. Many simply open their doors (and often very limited hours too ie Lost Dogs Home North Melb) and pray that someone will arrive to adopt the animals in their care. Because they refuse to exhaust all avenues of assistance, ie rescue groups, foster care programes etc, they are unwittingly “willingly choosing to put their animals to sleep”….. AKA killing their animals. Annie makes a very good point and I look forward to the debate with great interest.

Remember, the RSPCA uses volunteers to help, as does Dubbo. They recently had trouble getting volunteers. Perhaps you could donate your time and help foster out all the animals that are dumped on their doorstep by the community.

We live in a democratic society, Steve, free speech is a great gift to us all. We are waiting eagerly for this debate. Why are you hiding? The public make generous donations to the RSPCA. We all respond to your incessant fundraising. However, we are becoming disillusioned with your mantra of caring ‘for all creatures great and small.’ How about all the healthy cats, kittens, dogs and puppies we all hear about, all those little guys the RSPCA kills annually. I know the rescue groups manage to save and rehome many animals, and they do it on a meagre budget. Come on, Steve, defend the annual killing of healthy animals.

Steve Coleman, where are you? The high kill rates at the RSPCA are outrageous. The public are asking for transparency, we want to know why such a wealthy organisation kills so many healthy cats and dogs.
It is the rescue groups who fight to save “all creatures great and small..” The RSPCA is letting the animals down…

I would love this debate to happen and would watch with interest. With the funds the RSPCA get rehoming rates should be higher. Let’s get this into the open. RSPCA used to get heaps of my dollars. not any more. They are now going to rescue groups.

It is a sad state of affairs, when we cannot trust the RSPCA to care for stray, lost and abused animals.
The rescue groups save lives, foster, and give animals a second-chance, and they work on a shoe-string budget. The “Insight” program, enlightened the public about Steve Coleman’s lack of interest in a no-kill policy. I welcome a debate on these issues, hopefully the CEO, Steve Coleman will approach the challenge with his usual enthusiasm.
I would like to hear Steve’s explanation for the behavioural and medical reasons cited as reasons for the daily high-kill rate.

They have the “sick ones”, and the “dangerous ones” and the “feral ones” and then the “unsuitable for re-homing ones”, RSPCA can just about fit any animal to slot into one of those.
Even cats are temp tested so I understand.
Time to answer some questions RSPCA.

There should be no “feral cats” in the
pounds. What kind of stupidity collects a feral cat whose position in the
ecology is pivotal in maintain the balance of ‘wildlife” and kill’s it;
Immediately it is replayed by another (vacuum effect) and then continued to
trap and kill to achieve what “status quo” now that is an entertaining
idea. Every other country and county in the world are using Trap, Neuter and
Return.Over 40 states in America alone use TNR some over 20 years and yet we
have some very uneducated and ill informed “high profile” killing
shelter killing these defenceless animals for the sheer pleasure or joy because
they can be no other reason. Because it achieves nothing.

Since when do feral cats have any sort of place in our ecology apart from destroying native wildlife?! Cat’s are an introduced species in Australia, and they do a lot of damage. Desexing them will not change that. Apart from that, who is going to pay to desex all of the thousands of feral cats?

And you are an idiot if you think anyone euthanizes an animal for ‘pleasure’!

Nobody is above the law and accountability is an issue here especially with the high rate of kill and the huge pound contracts. The public donate and expect their animals to be treated with compassion and humanely. It doesnt matter how you look at this animals being given unspecific and secret temp tests in a terrifying situation for an animal is not conducive to humane or truth. Shelters should not be allowed to take on contract for animals if they know that they do not have the capacity or time and funding to give those animals the best chance at being rehomed. There are hundreds of rescue groups that can take these pets on an are non kill. RSPCA say they are an open door pound…what is this…does this make it acceptable to take in an animal you know you cannot and will not rehome. Normal rescue groups refer them to a rescue group that can assure that it will find a home and not be killed . The small foster care rescue groups kill less than 1% these pounds kill 50%.

Steve Coleman, speaks about an “open door policy” I would argue it is a closed door policy for all the companion animals killed annually. Once they enter the confines of the RSPCA there is a slim chance they will ever leave, especially, the cats and kittens,and the old, and frightened animals.The rescues give these animals a ‘second chance’ and they do it without all the fundraising carried out by Mr. Coleman’s organisation.
I welcome a debate, I will watch it avidly, come on Steve, defend the high-kill rate of healthy companion animals, don’t be shy.

In our submission to the NSW Companion Animal Taskforce, one of our recommendations is an investigation into the RSPCA NSW; it’s timely. People want the RSPCA NSW to demonstrate leadership in implementing modern and progressive animal rehoming strategies and taking a stand with government on un-regulated breeding. Their figures show otherwise…..

The RSPCA’s unacceptably high kill rates of healthy cats and dogs is concerning. It is time for a transparent investigation into this organisation. Steve Coleman, take up the challenge. I think you owe it to the public who donate generously to your organisation. We donate to save animals, not to kill them.

The aim is to find homes for all re-homable pets ( this does include ill animals or those with aggression problems).Steve Coleman didn’t seem interested in this concept.Why can’t the NSW RSCPA follow in the footstep of ACT RSPCA?

What I want to know, is how long have you worked in these places so you can then have a true view on their kill rate. Not ever animal can be rehabilitated. What about dogs that kill innocent people? Do we not put them down? Not every animal can be saved.

Animal Rights and Rescue group Inc. Northern Rivers is a self funded voluntary group and has operated a
No-Kill organisation since 1995. We take all unclaimed animals from Lismore, Casino, Kyogle pound and in this region over 50% of these pound rescues are neglected and or abused. Yet we never kill, all animal arrivals are given time to recover from emotional and physical abuse and all injured and sick animals given vet treatment and go to a carer to suit their needs. Special need animals timid/abused/old/disabled/underage animals go to a carers than can help provide the special care they need until they are ready to be rehomed.
If small self-funded rescue groups like ARRG can rescue all unclaimed animals from 3 local pounds every week of the year and not find any reason to kill them, then how can the big wealthy groups justify the killing of the companion animals they rescue every day, week, year. Explain Temp testing now!
Famous statement from USA Note: you can’t claim to rescue animals if you then kill them!

What about the GOOD the RSPCA has done. I worked at a shelter for many years and rehomed over 100’s animals of all varieties. You make it sound like it was all for nothing. I know many other volunteers also did a lot of good and helped out even after they clocked off.

Why is it that the RSPCA have 60 or 70 million dollars in their trust fund, but they can never NEVER do real eduction campaigns on a massive scale on desexing, Why? Because the men at the top make big pay packets every week. Here in North NSW we only have one RSPCA officer, which covers a massive area, the size of Tasmania. A total Joke. Don’t support RSPCA. They need to go right under the radar, it’s about time. How many animals go un checked or dismissed because it is way too hard for one inspector to cover all. Let alone the insane laws that Dept of Primary Industries need to let go of. These people are not qualified in animals. They are trained to do business and that’s it. It all ties in. They all work hand in hand and they all support exploiting animals for money. Give the local shelters the power to seize abused and neglected animals, and stop RSPCA from monopolising the shelters that sweat away in the sheds with not even any air conditioning. If they had the money to educate we would not have these issues, and the funding to offer free desexing!!! It is sickening that all these animals suffer and die each year, so many animals. Animals lives in Australia are cheap!

Why are you just attacking the RSPCA in the first place, like Anne is? Have you people ever botherd to think of where these pets came from in the first place? Not every animal is suited to rehousing. Instead of getting on the band wagon of naive bleating and try to help out at the RSPCA. Lend a hand and try to help or even adopt some of these animals? All talk and no action makes for a boring conversation. I volunteered for many years and adopted in total five elderly dogs and four elderly cats. All I suggest is before you blindly follow the pied piper, go in to an RSPCA shelter, donate your time, help some animals and THEN give an opinion. It also helps to see things from other peoples perspectives, too, you know.

Why are the stats for council pounds (who work with rescue) better than RSPCA??

Very simple questions. I want answers!

Barry, these issues need to be out in the open. The RSPCA is hardly going to get this in the open when it gets millions of dollars in council contracts but is quietly killing animals at the same time it claims to be protecting and caring for the very animals it is killing. How many people previously knew of the KILLING??. 250,000 cats and dogs killed is too much. The killing has to stop.

RSPCA has the ear of government.

Maria Macurio (VIC RSPCA CEO) last year said on 7.30 report (ABC TV) ANIMAL ACTIVISTS ARE LEADING THE WAY. Why is it that animal activists must lead the way. It should be the RSPCA that “leads the way”.

When the RSPCA starts leading the way I will shut up. Until then……..watch this space. More to come!!!!

This is the age of litigation: if the Rspca was to re-home a dog or cat that was aggressive and it turned on the owner they would be sued . Instead of having a go at people trying to save and re-home these animals shut down the puppy farms that are producing these cross bred mutts with stupid names (cavoodles,labradoodles etc) so that their just isnt the sheer volume of animals around in the first place. If people have to wait on a list for a purebred dog or cat they sure as heck will more likely take care of it and it wont end up in the situation of needing rescued.And I for one have taken 15 wild cats to the rspca, cute and furry they looked, but I needed to use long welding gloves to corner and catch them – good luck rehoming a feral cat.

Remember, this is a one sided conversation. Your views will fall on deaf ears, especially where such people do nothing to stop the problem before they get in to the RSPCA in the first place. Hysterics cry foul but are puppy farms, pet shops, etc, illegal? No, for some weird reason people want to shut down instead the one group which has to deal with peoples “bad buy” every year. Shut down the RSPCA? Then what? Who then will have the resources to deal with the onslaught of unwanted animals? How many are vets? Think hard before getting on the bandwagon and ruining the people who are there to help. Do you people also hound doctors and nurses when they are unable to save every HUMAN? Didn’t think so…

You seem to think that by allowing the RSPCA to continue to operate we are doing our pets a service. A “kill” service how can you justify keeping a high kill shelter open for business when there are a large amount of pound rescue groups working on the foster care system that could take on these extra animals if they had but a fraction of the funding that the RSPCA has. These rescues work without overheads, paid staff and massive infrastructure so all that squandered money would be spent directly on the animals. It works well in all the smaller groups I know some handling between 75 and 200 animals at one time and they are all re homed the sick are made better, the old are loved and respected, those that have been abused get a chance to heal and those that are not cute and fluffy also get a change at finding their forever home. I cannot see any positives in supporting this type of “shelter”.

I find Steve Coleman, an impressive individual. My family and I watched him on the ‘Insight’ program.
What a master he is at spin-doctoring! We commend Ms Greenaway for suggesting a debate with the debonair Mr. Coleman. We wish you well! My family and I will be watching with bated breath.
I want Steve to explain the high-kill rates at the RSPCA. We need accountability, not more, propaganda,
and nervous smiles from Steve.
My family donated to the RSPCA for years, my grandparents always supported them, then Mum and Dad, then me and the wife, Doreen. No more, the high-kill rates are shocking! We give what we can to the rescue groups now!

Why does she have to have a debate on TV? Why not just go in to a few shelters and see how things are run on a daily basis? Why not have a private interview? It is starting to sound like a publicity stunt to me. The RSPCA has been around for how many years? Are they only just killing animals? Do they ever rehome ANY animals? Is there only ONE side to this story? I suppose when you only want to be seen as being right, you do not really want to show the other side of the coin, do you?

It still comes down to the irresponsibility of companion animal owners who are not prepared to take appropriate care of their animals, including vaccinations and desexing costs, and then handing the responsibility over to either the RSPCA or the council pounds. How many of these animals are dumped, either in the bush – not good for native small animals or birds, or at the animal shelters? Get real, people, caring for any companion animal, whether dog, cat, guinea pig or budgie, brings great rewards, but it will cost you. Grow up!

Naive claptrap. Stop getting on the band wagon and hurting the people trying to do good. I tried to help injured animals for over 15 years. I tried rehoming as many as possible but money wise and personality wise: It was impossible to save every creature. Some people think every animal is capable of saving. People, THIS IS NOT THE CASE!!!

What the staff have to face each day is bureaucracy and pressure from administrations who’s only interest is the bottom line (dollar). Pressure to put down pets that could be rehomed, but because they won’t resell as they’re not pretty enough, or a specific breed, or have medical conditions are euthenaised.

Don’t even start me on the rubbish that well meaning members of the public are told when they call up because someone has moved out nextdoor and left there cat/cats behind.

The private rescue groups are run by people who are desperate to help, with no funding at all except their own. They don’t receive grants, they largely fly under the radar and so never see donations from members of the public.

Yes. I have heard from many ex RSPCA workers, people in shelters, Shelter managers, admin, ex directors on the Board, even inspectors, as well as many complaints from members of the public.

The issue you have raised about people moving is VERY IMPORTANT. RSPCA can take action for abandonment. It is an OFFENCE under POCTTA. I would be keen to know how many ABANDONMENT cases they prosecute. My guess – very few, if any!

We need a blueprint to start saving animals, not killing them. I listened to the CEO of the RSPCA, Steve Coleman, he was steeped in a culture of killing healthy cats and dogs, in fact, his refusal to encompass a no-kill policy at the RSPCA, made me suspicious.
It is not good enough to adopt out a few animals and kill the rest. The RSPCA is betraying the animals in its care, not to mention all its supporters whose donations allow the organisation to accumulate millions of dollars.

The SBS Insight program has raised more questions that I’m sure Steve Coleman would wish were never asked. Mind you he has brought it all upon himself. If he claimed that a meeting took place 15 months ago, with 10 rescue groups, yet he never heard from any of them since. I was at that meeting and therre were only three rescue groups present. Furthermore the lawyer representing two of the groups personally gave Steve Coleman their contact details thus fulfilling Coleman’s requirement that a representative from each group given him their contact details. In fact it was the rescue groups, who never heard anything further, not the other way around.

Coleman also claimed on SBS that the RSPCA’s kill rate for dogs was only 27%. Meanwhile the state govt’s companion animal taskforce published very different figures for the RSPCA back in May of this year. Without a doubt the government report stated that the RSPCA has a kill rate of 44% or, to break it down into raw figures, it was 16 347 dogs taken in and 7 246 euthanised for the period reporting 2010-11. In comparision the state’s pound system has a kill rate of 28%. Again in raw figures that’s 47 808 dogs brough into the system and 13 707 euthanised.

So the question really has to be answered: why is the pound system far superior to the RSPCA? Afterall the core busines of the RSPCA is supposed to be for the care and welfare of animals. Yet the RSPCA has a dreadful kill ratio, even though it deals with almost three times less than the pound system, whilst both systems take in surrenders, the old, the sick, & the injured. And this is despite the fact that the RSPCA made a $12 million profit, for the year reporting 2010-11, whilst not one pound makes any money nor does any community companion animal rescue group.

Really, what would happen to these unwanted animals if it wasn’t for the RSPCA??? Think about it.
The problem lays with society. Uneducated pet owners who only get a puppy or kitten for that cute factor and then realise the costs or they have no idea how to train them. Fair enough having a no kill policy, but there has to be people out there that will adopt these animals. No good having a no kill policy if these animals are just going to sit there and hope to be one day adopted, it may take days, months, years to finally be adopted. And as for the costs of animals from the pound, if $300 is too much for you, imagine the vet bill of an animal when it hurts itself. Some of these bills can be $4000!!
Fix the problem with stupid pet owners and then maybe the rate of animals dumped at the pound will drop.

There is a difference between killing and euthanasia. Sadly, sometimes it is necessary to euthanase eg: for medical reasons or if an animal has extreme behaviours that can not be corrected. This is different to killing because at the time they have no permanent home. YES, there is an oversupply problem in Australia … this needs to be addressed urgently: not by talking but doing. What is the RSPCA doing to solve this situation?
Welfare groups work hard to provide the “ambulance at the bottom of the cliff”, it is time the government/councils legislate for measures to create the “barrier at the top”. The RSPCA could be more active in making this happen.I

I know of people who used to work at an RSPCA shelter and left because they were disillusioned with what was happening. Council pounds also receive sick, injured, abused, neglected and unwanted animals and have a much lower kill rate. The RSPCA needs to be accountable to the people whose donations support it.

I agree completely. The RSPCA is seen by the average Australian as caring “for all creatures great and small”. So people donate to them, taking money from the smaller, volunteer-run, grassroots organisations who are left to pick up the slack. The RSPCA *is* deceptive. It happily receives the donations from hard-working Australians who think that money will be used to save lives.

RSPCA dont give the animal a real chance at life, I have seen it happen over and over again. In Asia they make wheel chairs for dogs who live happy lives without their back legs, here they are euthanised. Often an abused dog just needs a dog whisperer and care and love for a week or two, but the public are not invited to take on dogs like these.

Council pounds also have an open door policy, yet most have a much lower kill rate than the RSPCA. The RSPCA needs to explain their behavioural testing which results in so many deaths. If they can defend it then why will they not explain it?

From above, the RSPCA get ’16 347 dogs taken in and 7 246 euthanised for the period reporting 2010-11. In comparision the state’s pound system has a kill rate of 28%. Again in raw figures that’s 47 808 dogs brough into the system and 13 707 euthanised.’

I currently own a dog that was deemed unsuitanle by the ACT RSPCA. A small cute maltese but its elderly owner was going into a nursing home and couldn’t take it. She lived down the road and was heart broken when the ACT RSPCA wouldn’t take him due to aggression problems. She was going to have to follow their advise and have him put down. So I now have another dog. Yes initially he had problems but now are all sorted and he is the most loving dog. So I have to wonder how many dogs like him have been murdered by all RSPCA’s – not just NSW. Time to come clean RSPCA

In 2008 RSPCA seized Geraldine Robertson’s poodles for their own profit from the sale of the dogs and for donations for those “poor neglected poodles”. RSPCA gained over $2.5 Million profit from their lies. RSPCA then lied to the media and in court. Lies included that her dogs had maggots on them, they were starv3ed and malnourished, that three healthy puppies that died from starvation died because of hook worms being Geraldine Robertson’s neglect etc. The media showed beautiful poodles on clipping tables then the words were about the poor malnourished neglected poodles.

Geraldine Robertson was assaulted, had years of threatening telephone calls and was under constant spying and harassment from RSPCA. For more see www.petmafia.com.au. This is a severe case of RSPCA deceptive and misleading conduct including prosecuting for profit, abuse of power and malfeasance in public office. The Courts refused to consider any of RSPCA conduct in any matters brought by Geraldine Robertson before it. It is not only RSPCA that is corrupt, it is our system of government.

I have my own views for the RSPCA. I have had my own personal drams with them, however i feel we should not be attacking them as such now. Efforts should be focused on the public. Something needs to be done to make breeding dogs and cats undesirable for people. Maybe we should join forces in making it law to be registered to be able to breed animals. This registration should mean that all dogs the are used for breeding are recorded, all animals bred are recorded and anyone found with an undesexed animal, especially breeding, are faced with very high fines. These people registered should be subjected to random inspections to make sure everything is adhered too. Has anyone with authority actually gone through facebook and other sites such as petlink etc and charged the people giving away puppies, dogs, kittens and cats that do not have microchips? It is by law to have this, even when giving animals away and each day I see more and more adds with animals not microchipped. What was the point introducing a law no one keeps? I feel these issues are more important than focusing all efforts on an organisation that at the very least rehomes animals microchipped, desexed and vaccinated. And what about pet shops? Maybe we should introduce a law to make them have to have all puppies and kittens desexed before leaving for their new homes.

we tryed adopting a kitten from our local shelter and it was going to cost us nearly $300 , my husband said if the adoption costs were cheaper more people would be open to re homing . and as for coe they should have a pay cut and that money go back into centres to help care for these animals .

Exactly how do you think the shelters are supposed to make it cheaper to adopt the cats/dog when they pay for them to be vaccinated & desexed!! why dont you go buy yourself a petshop cat & see how fast the costs start to mount up. I guarantee it will amount to much more than $300.